Saugerties seal ringing in the New Year
According to Saugerties lighthouse keeper, Patrick Landewe, the following back story of a seal’s location and recent journeys was provided by Tom Lake of the Hudson River Almanac: On December 3, 2021, we told the story of the male harbor seal, flipper-tagged as number 246, that had chosen to reside in the vicinity of Esopus Creek at Saugerties, 113 miles from the sea, for 620 days. Then, on April 24, 2021, he mysteriously disappeared for 123 days. During those four months, our thoughts ranged from tragedy to abandonment.
Then, on June 17, 44 days later, Maxine Montello, Rescue Program Director with the New York Marine Rescue Center, told us she had picked up a male harbor seal with a tag number 246 on Atlantic Beach, Nassau County, Long Island, 140 miles seaward of Saugerties. The seal was getting a lot of attention from the public, had some superficial scarring on his body, so it was decided it would be in the best interest of the seal to give him some rehabilitation.
He was transported to the Marine Rescue center in Riverhead, Suffolk County, Long Island. He stayed at the rescue center for two months and was treated for an infection as well as seal pox (a cutaneous skin condition caused by a Parapoxvirus).
On August 14, after being given a second blue tag, number 105, he was released in Hampton Bays, Suffolk County. From there he began a 210-mile journey from Hampton Bays to New York Harbor and on upriver to Saugerties.
Our aquatic friend has been spotted and filmed by Rebecca Hung at the Saugerties Lighthouse this weekend.
Hudson Valley One wrote about the seal back in 2020. The article stated, “According to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, it is a male harbor seal, about two years old,” Landewe wrote in an email… ” If this is the same seal spotted back then, it would mean that the seal is now three-and-a-half years old.
Saugerties Democratic Committee chair resigns
The chair of the Saugerties Democratic Committee (SDC), Lanny Walter, has resigned from his position effective January 26, 2022. The Committee will consider candidates for a person to replace Walter at its January 25 meeting.
Any enrolled Democrat who resides in the Town of Saugerties is eligible to be nominated for the office of chair. If you wish to be a candidate for chair of the Committee, please submit a statement of your reasons for seeking the office of chair and details of your background that may qualify you for the position to Louise Bloomfield, secretary of the SDC, at the following e-mail address: lbloomfieldsdc@gmail.com. Statements of your reasons and background documents will start being distributed to the members of the SDC on January 10.
To become a candidate for chair, you do need to be nominated by a member of the SDC who is eligible to vote at the January 25 meeting and seconded by another member, also eligible to vote at the January 25 meeting. Applicants will be sent a Zoom link for the meeting a few days in advance. Please provide an e-mail address to which the secretary should respond.
Register now for Lifespring winter programming
Lifespring: Saugerties Adult Learning Community has announced that the Winter ’22 programming, including presentations in January and March, as well as a mini-course series in February, is open to anyone interested in attending. All programs are free and will be held via Zoom, with prior registration required. On Wednesday, January 12 and 19, Rich Davis will present “A Virtual Tour of the Hamlets of Saugerties.”
Lifespring is a Town of Saugerties-sponsored lifetime learning institute open to people in the Hudson Valley area and dedicated to the recognition of the important role of continuing education in our lives. For more information about Lifespring and how to register for the Winter ’22 open events, visit www.lifespringsaugerties.com. You may sign up for the Interest List to receive additional updates about Lifespring, including how to become a member in the future.
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